• Mattarella at the Elysée, Macron embraces him: "Deep friendship between Italy and France"

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05 July 2021 "France welcomes a friend and a great personality": this is how French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to the Elysée, with whom "there was full coordination on European solidarity" , he added, recalling that "last year, especially since summer 2020, we had a strong will to build a shared European ambition" and "we then decided to proceed with the bilateral treaty for enhanced cooperation, the treaty of Quirinale, which will allow us to consolidate our relationship ".



Follow the live broadcast of President Mattarella's Lectio Magistralis at the Université de La Sorbonne. 



"As my first trip abroad, I am delighted that it is a state visit to France, because France and Italy share a bond that I have repeatedly defined as unique, which is based on shared values, on a common history, on shared visions "were the words of Mattarella, who explained that" all this creates a truly unique bond, which is then added to some political conditions: we are founding countries of the European Union, founding countries of NATO, we are linked from a number of bonds. But what binds these companies is so strong that it forms the basis of all our bonds. " 



"This partnership of ours is really essential: bilaterally, it is for the European Union and it is also for the international community - adds Mattarella -. And this strengthened coordination between France and Italy was also evident in Brussels, on the occasion of the Recovery Fund. with the common position, with a particularly valuable position of President Macron in France, in order for the Union to become aware of the drama of the economic condition caused by the pandemic, and it also emerged in the collaboration we carried out in Brussels for the multiannual financial framework ".



"France and Italy - continues Mattarella - share the vision of the Union, its future and also the role that the Conference on the future of Europe must play, which is not a bureaucratic opportunity or an occasional passage, it is a historic opportunity offer to the countries of the Union to design an efficient condition for the European Union to be a protagonist in the international community, in an appropriate manner for the time we have before us. All this requires - and France and Italy share it - a project, which is born from the Conference, on renewal and reforms of the European Union ".



In the interview, Mattarella also reveals, "we also talked about transatlantic relations, the recovered transatlantic unity of intent, the importance of the meetings held in Brussels between the United States and the European Union, the collaboration that is emerging. We naturally also talked about states. that call us to responsibility, to collaboration, as in Libya and the Sahel. We talked about everything in which France and Italy find themselves together, feeling the importance of playing a role that is one of peace, of collaboration, of growth as regards the future not only of Europe but also of the regions around Europe. We are surrounded by areas of crisis, by tensions. Europe can transfer its vocation for peace and collaboration to these neighboring regions.And in this France and Italy are certainly called to collaborate, protagonists as they are doing ", underlines the head of state.



Mattarella finally said he was pleased that "President Macron recalled the importance that France and Italy reserve for young people. And I am pleased to announce that Italy has welcomed the proposal that has been received with great favor, and that France and Italy welcomed with great readiness, for a common Franco-Italian civil service, in which our young people will collaborate together ".



Upon his arrival in Paris, President Mattarella visited the Musée National de la Céramique de Sèvres, accompanied by the minister of ecological transition, Barbara Pompili. Subsequently, the head of state met Giorgio Armani who is in Paris for the week dedicated to high fashion.



This morning, after the official welcome ceremony at the Hôtel des Invalides, Mattarella was received at the Palais de l'Elysée by President Macron. President Mattarella then met with the President of the Assemblée Nationale, Richard Ferrand.



After the Lectio Magistralis at the Université La Sorbonne, the day ends at the Palais de l'Elysée with the State Lunch.



Tomorrow, Tuesday 6 July, Mattarella will have an interview with the Director General of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay. At the end of the talks, President Mattarella will pay tribute to the Monument of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. At the Hôtel de Ville he will meet the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo and, subsequently, will be the Prime Minister, Jean Castex's breakfast guest at the Hôtel de Matignon. In the afternoon, the last official engagement of the state visit, the meeting with the President of Sénat, Gérard Larcher.